The Darkness Within their hearts
by Santos J. Black
Summary: Slight SPOILERS. It’s been twenty five years since HBP. Voldemort is running the magical world, but hope is starting to shine again. This follows the story of Serafin Snape, and her quest to find redemption for herself and the ones she loves.
1. From Hell

The darkness within their hearts.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. The Hp world is property of J.K Rowling.

Summary: Slight SPOILERS. It's been twenty five years since HB. Voldemort is running the magical world, but hope is starting to shine again. This follows the story of Serafin Snape, and her quest to find redemption for herself and the ones she loves.

Rating: T (mostly because of the language)

Author's notes: I based this on an old rpg I was part off, so thanks to Quel for her idea and for her character (DM)

AN2: English isn't my first language, so sorry if it haves grammar or spelling errors, also I don't have a Beta.

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**Chapter 1**

**From hell**

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Life was hard, life hurt, life was unfair, life betrayed you every time it had the chance, life liked to hurt those that were already vulnerable, life liked to pick on the weak. 

At least that was the concept Serafin Snape had on life, the life she had to live, the live that she hated so much. With a small sigh she buried her face back on her pillow, letting the cold of the winter night make way to her small body. It was after all to be expected, more if you were sleeping on the old ruins on what used to be a building only with a pillow and the smallest blanket you could ever imagine.

That was the life Serafin Snape had grown to hate so much. A life that made her be born of a father that might love her, of a mother that died when she was still too young, made her be born in a situation that confused her beyond anyone imagination.

She let out a small scream on frustration as she sat up, the small blanket pilling on her lap as she ran her hands on her small black hair. She sighed once more and closed her eyes, resting her back on the wall behind her. It seemed that sleep wouldn't come again, not that it did nowadays.

The wizard world was at war, well had been at war for years now. It was almost twenty five years ago when it had started she had learned from her father, and later she had learned that it had been him who had made this world what it was now. It was funny after all, the fact that her own father was responsible of the world she hated so much.

Twenty five years ago, Severus Snape had killed Albus Dumbledore. Everyone who knew something of history knew this fact. From that time on the wizarding world had waited for the great Harry Potter to make a stand, to stand up against the evil Lord Voldemort and try to end this war. But it hadn't happened. Harry Potter, together with his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, had disappeared only months after Dumbledore had been killed and no one had seen them ever since.

The world had gone to hell; at least based on the small amount of information outside the Death Eaters she had been able to get her hands on. The Death Eaters, together with Voldemort had taken over and now they were the ones ruling. Her father had become Voldemort right hand man and she had been born. Since her early days she had known personally the dark lord, not that she was proud of that, and she had known she was suppose to follow her father's footsteps just like many other kids.

But something inside her told her that this was wrong, something inside her didn't let her enjoy the same things her fellow death eaters in training did, she couldn't bare the feelings of guilt after she had to kill the first time, and she couldn't look at herself in the mirror since that day.

Her seventeen birthday came too soon and she had been marked. The dark mark was now forever on her body, her left forearm burned now every time the Dark Lord wanted her around, but she had backed out.

She had never wanted this, she didn't want to kill, she didn't want to even live. So what did she do? She ran. As cowardly as it sounds, that was what she did. She took off with only her wand and the cloths she had on.

They had gone after her, after all a traitor wasn't suppose to live, a traitor was the lowest type of life form on this earth.

She didn't regret it though, even if she had more scars that she could think of, even if she had lost everything she ever knew, she still didn't regret it. This life was ten times better than the other one, even if she had to spend it alone.

That was the reason why eighteen year old Serafin Snape was sleeping on an abandoned building. She was running from them, from the people that had brought her up, from her family. She was running from her father, from her best friend, from her mentor, from everyone she knew. Because she knew she couldn't bare the thought of killing, and if they saw her, it was either kill or be killed.

So those were the events that led her to be where she was, sleeping in the cold, hungry, hurting, scared and alone. Her face was a lot different from the last time her friends saw her, it has hardened, scarred. The scar on her left eye gave her an air of evilness that she didn't exactly deserved, the one on her right cheek not helping much either. Her left forearm, where the dark mark was, was bandaged so she didn't have to look at it, so it didn't reminded her of her past. A past she wanted to forget, a past that made her bitter and older than she should be, a past full of broken promises and screams of pain.

Her dark looks helped her blend into the shadows of the night once she chose to leave the building. A small bag with the things she had was hanging on her back. Those were things she had picked here and there, things she had stolen since she had ran off without anything. She almost could bet on the fact that her friends and even her father wouldn't be able to recognize her if they saw her right now.

Her long black hair had been cut off almost completely, a couple of bangs were able to cover her black eyes but for the most part it was gone. She was dressed in cloths she wouldn't have been ever imagined herself on, black muggle baggy pants with a black t-shirt and big combat boots. She looked like the complete opposite of the person she was just two months ago. She looked older, she looked dark, and if you were good enough you could see she looked lost.

As the cold air filled her lungs Serafin let herself move around the forest with a lot of stealth. She could never be too careful; she could never let her guard down. Light was approaching fast, and that meant that the muggles of the area were about to wake up. Her instincts took her deep into the forest, away of any trace of humanity.

As she walked she started smelling something. She frowned as the smell filled her nostrils, was she smelling food? She stopped a moment to rearrange her thoughts and after a lot of thinking she decided to go to the opposite direction. Her stomach growled because of the smell of food, thing that hadn't been big on Sera's life lately, but she pushed the need aside and turned to walk away. What she didn't realized was that her foot was next to a root, so when she turned she got stuck on it and made her fall face forward. The last thing Serafin saw was the ground coming closer at a high speed, the last thing before everything went black.

_"Sera wake up love" a voice woke Serafin up from her slumber. She was lying on something soft, she was finally warm. Slowly she opened her eyes, the light was in the perfect amount, not too bright but still was lighting the whole room._

_Her eyes started darting around the room, looking for the person behind the voice. Finally she found him. A man in his mid twenties was a couple of feet from her. His dark looks contrasting with his big smile._

_A huge smile appeared on Sera's face, something that might have been thought to be weird but now that she smiled looked perfect on it. She started to stand up, still looking at the man._

"_I can't believe you're here" she whispered once she was up. Her dark eyes still on his form, smiling._

"_There is nowhere else I would rather be" and with those words he opened his arms to her. Without thinking it twice she jumped into them and hugged him close. His arms went around her as quickly as hers did, bringing her closer to him._

_She burrowed her face in his neck, her arms going around him to rest in his hair. He burrowed his face on her short hair, a hand going trough it. Both where muttering things nonstop, whispering their love to each other, their devotion._

"_I love you" Serafin whispered as she dropped a small kiss on his neck._

"_If you love me so much why did you leave me?" He said as he pushed her away from him. His face, that a moment before had been filled with love and happiness was now showing hatred and disappointment._

"_Dame, I had to" Sera said, her voice breaking as she tried to get closer to him once more. But her feet wouldn't move, she was stuck on her place._

"_No, you didn't" He said taking a step back "You didn't loved me, you didn't wanted to be with me". He turned on his heel and started walking to the door of the room._

"_No! Dame, please come back" she yelled after him "I love you!" Her only answer was the slamming of the door. "Don't leave me" she whispered brokenly as she dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I love you" _

Serafin's eyes shot opened as she woke up. Her cheeks were wet with tears, her head ached but she was able to realize that she wasn't cold. Slowly, since everything hurt, she sat up to inspect her surroundings.

Her hand went immediately to her cheeks. She wiped away the tears, mad at herself for them. She took a look around the room. It wasn't big, but it was big enough to have its own fireplace. She was lying on a couch in front of it, and by the looks she could say it was the house living room.

It looked old, but not Malfoy manor old, just old. Her brows furrowed as she heard a noise behind the couch, slowly she stood up putting her hand on the couch to keep her self from falling down.

As she started to walk she was able to confirm her theory, everywhere hurt. She was finally able to walk around the couch to be met by something she had never thought of finding, something she had never faced before….the grin of a two year old.

There it was, sitting on the ground with a teddy bear hugged to him, a small boy around two years old grinning up to her.

A Bang was heard and Sera jumped slightly, turning to where the noise came from. A door had opened, and a person walked in with a trail on her hands. It was a woman in her late 30's, with brown hair a friendly smile on her face.

"I see you're up" she said, her voice happy but not over cheery. Sera slowly nodded, frowning.

"Where am I?" she said, putting a hand on her bandaged head.

"My sons found you near our property yesterday morning" the woman said as she put the trail on a small table by the couch and went to pick up the small child. Sera's eyes went to the trail since it was full of food.

"It's for you" the woman said, as if reading Sera's thoughts.

Sera nodded and slowly walked back to the couch. She was aching to grab the food but many years as a Death Eater trainee and as a potions master's daughter taught her not to eat anything from people you didn't knew.

"Who are you?" the question left her mouth before she was able to stop it.

The woman only raised her eyebrows and gave her a small smile "My name is Anne Owen" she said sitting besides Sera on the couch "And this little guy is Jesse Owen" she told her, meaning the small two year old.

"I, ermmm, thank you" Sera finally said softly. She wasn't sure of what to make out of this people, of this woman. She looked innocent, she didn't looked evil and well it was a plus that she wore a short sleeved shirt since she could see the un-marked left fore arm.

"Eat" the older woman commanded Sera as she made a head notion towards the trail. Slowly, Sera reached out to grab a sandwich from it, taking it her to her mouth smelling it a little more as a habit than because she was afraid. After all they could have killed her while she was unconscious, didn't they?

Finally she took a bit to it. Her eyes widening slightly as she tasted it making Ann chuckle.

Silence took over as Sera ate. After her sixth sandwich she finally looked at Ann and Jesse again.

"Thanks for the food" she said slowly. Her voice had a hint of fear on it. Her eyes were focused on a sport behind them, never making eye contact.

"It's alright dear, you looked like you needed it" Ann said, smiling at the young girl. She looked so lost she couldn't top herself from trying to help her.

"What's your name dear?" Ann asked, sitting young Jesse on the space between them. Slowly the young boy started crawling towards Serafin, and without saying anything climbed into her lap.

To say the young girl was surprised was something, her eyes were round as plates as the little boy snuggled onto her chest and started to drift to sleep. As she looked down at him she made a decision, she wanted to stop running and if for some weird reason this family was starting to open up its arms to her she would let them.

"Serafin" she said softly as she put a shaking hand over the boys head, running a hand trough his red curls.

"He likes you Serafin" Ann said, a smile on her face at the picture.

Sera looked up at the smiling Ann and gave her a small half smile. That was as much as she could do right now. "I like him too" she said softly again.

Ann felt proud of herself. It seemed that little Jesse had been able to warm this lost girl's heart. "If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing on our lands?"

Sera paled slightly, they were going to kick her out. "I was walking by, I'm sorry" her eyes were on the floor again.

Ann frowned at the girl's attitude. She seemed scared and lonely. "There is no problem. Are you sure you're parents aren't looking for you?"

"They're dead" she answered quickly. Inside she felt bad about lying to her when she had been so nice to her but it was the truth, if she had any said in the matter she was an orphan.

"I'm sorry dear" The older woman said softly, putting a hand on Sera's shoulder. Sera flinched slightly, not used to older people comforting her. It was usually between Dame and Sammy that made her feel better.

Silence filled the room; the only noise was the soft snoring of the sleeping toddler. Sera kept her eyes on his sleeping form, as if he was going to disappear any moment.

"I'll be gone by the end of the day Mrs. Owen." Her voice broke the silence.

Anne recognized the lost look on the girl's face once again, and made a decision she was hoping she wasn't going to regret in the future. "There is no need to rush dear; you can sleep here tonight if you want"

The girl's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. It was weird, to see someone that looked so hard wear her heart on her sleeve. "Thanks" she murmured as she ran her hand over the child's head again.

One thing did attract Ann's attention. Her left forearm, it has bandaged up like if she had cut herself but many things could be on a left forearm, things that weren't exactly good. She just hoped she was wrong, she just hoped that what she had seen on this girl was strong enough to help her trough what was laying ahead. She was hoping that for once, the people on that house would believe in second chances. She just hoped that for once Ann Owen would be wrong. Or at least that for once the ex-Golden Trio was able to accept people mistakes.

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TBC…. 

Please review…I want to see if someone actually reads this, just to know if it's worth to continue it….thanks


	2. My world

The darkness within their hearts.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. The Hp world is property of J.K Rowling.

Summary: Slight SPOILERS. It's been twenty five years since HB. Voldemort is running the magical world, but hope is starting to shine again. This follows the story of Serafin Snape, and her quest to find redemption for herself and the ones she loves.

Author's notes: I based this on an old rpg I was part off, so thanks to Quel for her idea and for her character (DM)

AN2: English isn't my first language, so sorry if it haves grammar or spelling errors, also I don't have a Beta.

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Chapter 2

My world

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Damien Malfoy was in pain. Not just physical but also emotional, not that he would actually tell anyone about it, he wasn't stupid.

Life for Damien Malfoy wasn't exactly perfect. Yes he was the grandson of Voldemort's right hand man, yes his family had a lot of money, yes he had a lot of girls throwing themselves at him. But that didn't make his life perfect.

He was a Death Eater, he had been for seven years now. Just like any other Death eater kid he had been practically forced to take the dark mark as soon as he turned seventeen. And since then he had been on Voldemort's ranks, he had followed his orders for almost a decade now.

He had maimed, he had killed, he had tortured. He had done such terrible things, things that he was ashamed of. But he did them anyway. He killed, he tortured, only because he was a big coward.

He was scare, he admitted that to himself. As he laid there, on the dark of his bedroom in Malfoy Manor he reflected on what had been happening in the last couple of months.

Life was crazier since she had run, he had to admit that. The Death eaters had been going around like crazy, as if waiting for the members of the Order will suddenly appear and finish them off. But Dame knew better.

He knew Sera, of there was anyone who knew her it was him. He knew that contrary to all the rumors she wasn't a spy. He knew her better than he knew himself. But something did plague his mind, if he knew her so well then why he didn't know why she ran?

Speculations were all around them. But he had closed himself to those stories. He simply didn't care what everyone's point of view in this situation was; he didn't care what they thought of it.

He only cared about her, he only wanted to know where she was, if she was alright, if she felt as lonely without him as he felt without her. He sighed as he turned in his bed, burrowing his face on his pillow, the rain outside his window having a calming effect on him.

It had been hell this past two months to him. His Sera had deserted the Death Eaters, she had became a fugitive, someone he should hate. But how could he hate her? How could he hate the person that made him feel alive?

Every one of his things had been gone through by his father. Her photos, books, clothes and other stuff she had left in his room were destroyed. Dame was barely able to keep a couple of her things. A photo of them, that was kept inside his journal; a hair band, which he wore as a bracelet on his wrist; her favorite book, that he had on his personal library and the chain with the snake trinket he wore around his neck.

He finally closed his eyes, trying to let sleep overcome him. If anything, this last two months had been the most hectic of his life. Orders had them running all around Britain with the order of finding her and killing her at sight.

Damien sighed again as sleep started to finally come. Tomorrow was going to be another day; a day where he both wished and dreaded the thought of finding his love mostly because he didn't knew what the result of their encounter would be. After all he just wanted to see her again, one last time.

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Sera had been left to sleep again in the couch by Ann. They had spent a couple of hours in company of one another, the older woman asking her some questions. She knew she had her doubts, but she had promised herself that she would do anything to win the older woman's trust.

Ann had told her about her family. It seemed that the house wasn't as small as she had first thought, or at least it was big enough to have eight people living under its roof. Sera had of course asked about the other habitants of the house and had discovered that Ann lived here with her husband, her five sons and her brother. She had also promised her she would meet them later, since she needed to rest firs before being able to leave what had been catalogued as 'her room'.

She lay on the couch now, as the clock struck midnight. She had her head buried in her pillow as one arm and one leg hanged off the couch. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes wishing for the nightmares that haunted her every night wouldn't come to her tonight. As she drifted to the first safe sleep she had in weeks, Sera's thoughts drifted to a young boy thousand of miles away. A small smile appeared on her face as she started to dream about an encounter that wasn't going to happen any time soon, but what were dreams for, if not to get those things we want the most and we can't have.

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Ann's soft steps were the only noise in the house at that time of the night. She had just finished putting her younger sons to bed and was now walking towards the kitchen where her husband, her brother and her two older sons were waiting for her.

Four heads whipped around as she entered the room, closing the door behind her. A read head, two boys that looked exactly the same and a man with glasses was the sight she had in the kitchen table.

"They're asleep" She declared softly as she walked to the sink and got herself a glass with water.

"And how is she?" the man with glasses asked her softly, is deep voice a clear contrast to Ann's feminine one.

"I think she's asleep too" she said taking a seat next to red haired man. Both men were on his early forties, just as she was. The two remaining occupants were younger, barely out of teenage hood.

"What's her name?" one of the two identical boys asked her. They had brown curly hair and deep blue eyes. Both were rather tall and lanky and they sat there looking at their parents for some kind of explanation of why they hadn't been able to meet the stranger they had found in the woods a day before.

"Serafin" Their mother answered them "She seems harmless…."

"But what Annie?" the read haired man asked his wife, as he took her small hands on one of his bigger ones.

"I don't know William, I just have this strange feeling that there is something about her…something I don't know how to describe it…"

"Something dangerous?" the man with glasses asked her

"No Michael, not dangerous….more than something we shouldn't overlook, something that we need to know about her.

"Do you think…" one of the boys started saying, but stopped mid sentence.

"What?" William asked his son "What do you think?"

"Do you think she's a witch?" he said.

"I don't know, I felt something around her, it might be magic but I guess we'll just have to wait and see" Ann said softly sighing.

"Boys, just remember, constant…" Michael started

"Vigilance" both boys cut him off "Yes we know Uncle Mike…never leave your wand behind, never trust a pretty face, never give them a clear shot" The boy on the left continued as if those words had been spoken to them a million times, which they had probably been.

Michael glared at them "Don't come running at me if you get your ass hexed Dave" he said more directly to the boy that had continued the speech.

Ann and William rolled their eyes, and chuckled as Michael continued to lecture both boys about the subject.

"One thing that did caught my attention" Ann's voice filled the kitchen again as Michael went silent "Was that she had her left fore arm bandaged"

"Do you think she's a…" William let the question open for them as they started considering the possibility of having a death eater under their roof at this moment.

"We should keep an extra eye on her" Michael said after a while "Make turns to see if she leaves the room, keep our eyes open for any weird conduct"

They nodded as he talked. They couldn't be sure of anything unless they saw it at first hand, they just wished they hadn't made a bad decision.

"We should go to bed" William said, standing up "Can you take the first watch Mike?" he asked the other man.

Michael just nodded, following everybody out as they emptied the kitchen. His head was going in circles about the possibility of having a Death Eater under their roof, about protecting his family.

They said goodnight as he looked around for a place to stood watch, this was sure to be a long night.

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TBC...

Please some review...just to know some is actually reading this...please...


	3. Lonely

**The darkness within their hearts.**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. The Hp world is property of J.K Rowling.

Summary: Slight SPOILERS. It's been twenty five years since HB. Voldemort is running the magical world, but hope is starting to shine again. This follows the story of Serafin Snape, and her quest to find redemption for herself and the ones she loves.

Author's notes: I based this on an old rpg I was part of, so thanks to Quel for her idea and for her character (DM)

AN2: Thanks Kris! My beta! Sorry girl for not sending you the first two chapters! And thanks for reading every single 'fic' I start to write…you are awesome

Thanks to

Lil' Moony and Lil' Padfoot: Thanks a lot! You were exactly what I needed. Thanks for reading and thanks for reviewing.

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Chapter 3  
Lonely

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The old clock chimed as six in the morning came. The house was quiet as David Owen kept watch on the living room door. Behind that door their 'guest' was sleeping peacefully.

Michael's watch was followed by William and then William had chosen David to follow him. His brown, curly hair was messy from his sleep and his blue eyes were half closed, as if he wasn't entirely awake at the moment.

"It's too bloody early..." he muttered to himself as he passed a hand trough his hair, yawning. He rested the side of his head and the wall as he kept his half-opened eyes on the door, waiting for any disturbance to make him awake fully.

As he looked, the door opened slightly. A mass of shiny black hair appeared as Serafin poked her head out. She looked to the right, then to the left, finally noticing then the presence of David. She looked as if she was about to retreat back to her room when David voice stopped her.

"Good morning" he said cheerfully, finally being able to see, face to face, their small guest. He stood up and walked towards her, still looking half asleep.

Sera just looked at him alarmed, as if waiting for him to attack her, but she didn't walk back. Slowly she took a tentative step outside the safety of the room she had spent the last three days in.

"I'm David" he said, standing now just a couple of feet away from her "I'm the only one up at this unruly hour of the morning…¦why are you up so early?" he asked her, trying to get her to talk.

"I have been awake about an hour or so" she said softly, not meeting his eyes. David frowned slightly and ruffled his hair in the way he had seen his Uncle Mike do so many times.

"Are you feeling better?" he said softly as he looked down at her. She looked tired, but she did look better than when Bill and himself had found her.

Sera just nodded, her eyes were fixed on the floor. Her actions gave David the opportunity to inspect her further, looking at her details. She had short black hair, she was small and had a lot of scars. He had been able to see some as he had carried her back home, some were on her neck and face others were on her arms and he was almost sure her legs would be covered in them too.

"Er do you want to drink something?" the twenty year old boy asked her, suddenly missing his jeans because of the lack of front pockets. It wouldn't look right to anyone if he stood there with his hands in his pajama pants.

Sera nodded again, this time raising her look at him. He gave her a small smile as he was finally able to see her face. She had two big scars on her cheek and the blackest eyes he had ever seen.

Sera looked back at him with a small frown. He looked harmless, in his pajama pants and t shirt, opposed to her baggy black pants and t-shirt.

He smiled at her again and led her to the kitchen, making her a gesture to sit on the table as he went to get them their drinks. "What do you want? Coffee, milk, water, juice?" his voice came from behind the refrigerator's door since he was looking for those drinks.

"Coffee would be alright" she answered him as she looked around the kitchen from her position. It was small enough to have a homey feeling about it but big enough to have a table for at least ten people in it.

She was rewarded with a smile from David as he went to scoop the grounds into the strainer. He walked over to the sink, and filled the pot full of water, and put it in the back of the coffee pot. He turned to look at her as the coffee started to brew, resting his back on the kitchen counter. "So...may I ask you a question?" he asked her softly, his tone serious.

"You just did… But I don't care." she said, her eyes looked a little scare as she nodded. She didn't wanted to get asked about from where she came, why she was here, who were her parents. She didn't want them to know that she was a murderer, that she was weak.

After a nervous silent he cleared his throat. Sera closed her eyes waiting for the question. "What's your name?"

Sera's eyes shot opened to see his smiling face again. She rolled her eyes and couldn't stop herself from smiling a little. "Serafin" she told him softly.

"Serafin" he said as if testing it. "Serafin" he repeated it, scrunching his nose as if there was something wrong with it.

"Something wrong?" she asked softly, not sure of the why they boy was making funny faces and repeating her name.

"It's just…I don't know" he said passing a hand through his already messy hair. "It doesn't completely fit" he said as he took two mugs and filled them with coffee.

Sera glared a little at him as he put the mug in front of her. "How can't it fit?" she said, her voice harder than she had intended to.

He offered a spoon for the sugar, which she declined. "I mean it's just too serious. You don't look like a serious person to me"

Sera took the first sip of her black coffee trying not to moan as the hot sensation of the coffee filled her completely. "How do you know I'm not serious?" she asked him, raising her eyebrows a little. David just shrugged, taking a sip out of his own mug. "You can call me Sera, if that helps" she said softly. She wasn't sure what took her to say that, after all only a few people called her by her nickname.

He nodded "It does". Silence took over as they continued to sip at their coffee. Neither knowing the other one was a witch or wizard, neither showing any signs of magic.

Sera had been a little afraid as she had entered the muggle kitchen that was the truth. So many years between Death Eaters made her weary of muggles, but after all weren't this muggles letting her stay under their roof? Didn't they feed her?

They weren't as stupid as wizards always made them seem, because if they were…how could they make such amazing coffee? True, all those gadgets freaked her out but just as she had learned 'never let your enemies know you are afraid', she would 'never let the muggles know she was freaking out because of all their stuff'. If she was going to be living as a muggle… at least her new family was going to be way nicer than her real one.

* * *

The mere fact of being in his presence made his skin crawl. He knew that Sera had felt the same way, but did the others? Or was that just something those that didn't wanted to follow his orders felt?

He remembered to close his mind as he step forward and bow at Lord Voldemort's feet. Nothing good would be able to come out of him finding how much he hated following his orders, and at last he had found out a good use on something the git of his godparent had taught him.

"Damien" Voldemort's snake like voice made him look up "How is the search going?"

Voldemort, the bastard he was, had put him in command of Sera's search. Everyone knew that they had been together since forever, and still he was the one that was suppose to find her and bring her to him.

"The last time she was spotted was near Manchester" he replied "She was seen moving east, on foot"

He knew he was supposed to have found her by then, but he wasn't exactly putting all his effort on it. To Voldemort, he was loyal. To him he wanted her dead. But just like he wasn't able to see Sera's plans, he wasn't able to see how deep his love ran.

"She is rather sneaky my lord" He said again, his mind closed up. It was both factors, him don't wanting to find her and she being able to sneak under their own noses.

"I don't think you are doing your best Mr. Malfoy" Voldemort said. Damien had to restrain himself of showing any sign of surprise. Was it possible that Voldemort knew he wasn't looking exactly hard?

"With all the respect you deserve, my Lord" he said bowing down again "I'm doing all that I can to find her for you" he said putting some venom in his voice "She betrayed you and she deserves to be punished for her behavior"

Voldemort walked forward, standing directly in front of Damien "But wasn't she your woman?" the Dark Lord asked him, looking into his eyes.

Damien felt as he tried to enter his head. Putting all his effort together he send him pictures of his raids around the Manchester area, hiding all the information that could put him in danger. "It doesn't matter if she was. She betrayed you my Lord, and she deserves death"

The Dark Lord nodded and turned on his heel, walking back to his 'throne'. He sat down and looked at Damien from there. "Mr. Malfoy, I expected better results from your part"

"I'm sorry my Lord. I shall try harder" he said, looking down. It was then when he felt it, the Cruciatus curse. He felt himself fall to the floor as his body shook with the pain he was feeling. He cried out in pain as he felt his insides pressuring themselves against themselves, as his legs and arms trashed out on the cold stone floor, as his mouth and nose filled with blood. The feeling of white hot knives was excrutiating.

Then as soon as it had begun, it stopped. He slowly opened his eyes, the mere action hurting him to the bone. His only sight was the Dark Lord's face as he looked at him. "The only reason you are still alive is at your grandfather's request" It was then when Damien noticed his grandfather, Lucius, besides the Dark Lord. "He doesn't want the only male heir to the Malfoy's to die" Voldemort's voice filled with amusement.

Slowly Damien stood up. His legs felt like jelly, and he was almost sure his left arm was broken from banging too hard on the floor. It wasn't the first time he had felt it, but it seemed that this time the Dark Lord had been exceptionally mad at him.

"You have failed, and your life will be mine to take the moment you screw up again" Voldemort sneered at him "You are no longer in charge of her quest, now you shall join your father's ranks" he told him a smirk on his face "But this is the last time Mr. Malfoy"

Damien nodded and bowed down once again. He walked out of the room, letting himself limp just as the door closed, keeping him out of sight from Voldemort.

He let out a sigh as he apparated home. He wasn't going on the team that was supposed to retrieve her, and he knew he was now on the group the Dark Lord suspected from. But it was worth it, the pain, the broken bones. At least he had been able to give her a two month head start. He just wished she was safe, and that she would remember him.

* * *

TBC...


End file.
